Second Life
by Ukaku
Summary: Everyone thought it was just a game. A virtual reality which was better than the real world. But what if that world became your real world? And you can't escape it?
1. Chapter 1

_Hello guioys (: This is my first attempt at a long piece of writing. I hope you guys enjoy it ^^ It's based on a virtual world of gaming so it's like 1/2 prince and Sword Art Online. That's all for the introductions. The main female character is Celaena. And the main male character is... That's for you guys to find out haha. I will generally post a chapter every week because I need to catch up on school work and extra curriculum activities. Sorry about the inconvenience. Enjoy _

I just died. The horrible feeling of wires gripped around us. Electricity and a cold aura of death surrounded my virtual body. Dark and menacing letters floated above me. _"You died. Game over."_ it said on the screen before fading away. Sometimes I wondered what would happen if this wasn't a game of second life. Would death be like this or would it feel different? What if our world was governed by no rules at all?

Waking up on my bed, cold sweat covered my body. I brushed a strand of hair that was in front of my eyes. Second life took over all the other games as it got released. It was a game everyone played. It didn't matter if you were popular or a freak. It was the reality everyone wanted to have. I closed my eyes. Who would have thought the game would be so fun… It seemed so real. Believable. But it was too good to be true. After all it could only just be a game.

Sighing to myself I got out of my bed. Raising the headset from my head I wondered of today would be more interesting than yesterday. But for now I had to go to school. If I was late I would get in trouble. And that would not be the news my travelling parents would want to hear. My parents are owners of an international company. They only expect perfection from their only daughter. Frowning, I got ready and impatiently waited at the front door of the apartment.

"Celaena! That fight last night was so messed up! Those monsters were just so strong. Like man. I haven't fought so hard since I started playing."

I rolled my eyes. William was so god damn annoying. And he liked emphasising small things. But like. He was a good fighter I suppose. What was I even thinking..  
"Celaena? You're staring…"

I glared at him before retorting, "You won't have noticed if you weren't looking at me either, William."

He gave me his famous smirk before asking, "Were you waiting for me? How sweet of you…"

He smiled as he tried to place his arm around my shoulders.

"In your dreams. I was waiting for Emily." I snapped at him. Pushing him away. He was about 10 centimetres taller than me and he had to keep reminding me of his height superiority.

"How did you know I dream about you? Did you dream about me last night too?" He grinned not getting the hint.

"Don't flatter yourself. We both know that we were playing Second Life last night. And why would I dream about you?"

"Of course you won't. The prettiest and most talented girl in our year of course won't even look at me." He muttered.

I frowned. Was he hurt? Or just acting? Not sure I decided on ignoring him.

Thankfully, Emily decided to come downstairs. "William? Celaena? Sorry about the wait. I had to do stuff."

Stuff? I was about to ask. But then I heard Williams voice. "It's okay. Let's get going. I don't want to be late. "

I nodded before setting off in a brisk walk with my earphones playing a song called _"the A Team."_

"Celaena? Are you all right?" Emily called from behind. I pretended to not hear her. Instead I focused on the lyrics of the song. Humming the tune to myself I could see from the corner of my eye William talking with Emily. A sour sensation passed through my thoughts but I quickly dismissed it.

_"Stuck in her daydream, been this way since eighteen."_

"Celaena? Celaena?! Celaena!?" Urgent calling brought me back to where I was.

Turning around "What do you two lovebirds want?" I said coldly wincing myself at my words.

"Lovebirds?" William asked evenly giving me his critical look.

I wasn't going to lose to him again. "Yea. Too much ego to admit it?"

"Are you okay? You've been in a bad mood since this morning..." He admitted worryingly.

"I'm okay." I looked away biting myself on my lip.

"You're not all right. What's wrong?"

"Can you stop prying into my business? Get something else to do." Then I realised what I said. "Sorry... I just don't know. I just don't feel well I suppose."

He ignored me. Did I hurt his feelings? The rest of the day passed like a blur. I couldn't concentrate on anything. Snide comments seemed to just be attacking me out of the blue. As the final bell rang, I rushed out of class.  
I felt a grab on my wrist.

"Wanna play second life tonight CeeCee?"

"I'm not in the mood Peter. Let me go you bastard."

"Ohhhh. Our little kitty has got claws today. Did you get a C- for a test?" Peter and his friends laughed.

My cheeks turned red as he called me those nicknames. I tried tugging my wrist away but with no success "Just let go. Please."

His mouth dropped a bit. I never said please to him unless it was necessary. Never. "Okay. Just be on second life tonight okay?"

I nodded. Peter was a really close friend. We knew each other since preschool. We couldn't be counted as friends but we also couldn't be counted as something else. We just. Knew each other I suppose. Frenemies? Both of us were highly competitive. Whether it was in studies or in gaming. I hated it when I dragged him down in game.  
I rushed home. What was wrong with me today. I heard a knock at my door. I knew without checking that it would be William. I ignored the knocking and eventually the knocking ceased.

My phone started ringing. I wasn't surprised when I checked the caller. "Hello?"

"Celaena are you all right?"  
"Yea."  
"Don't give me that answer."  
"Then what answer do you want?"  
"the truth."  
"That's the truth"  
"No it isn't."  
"I don't care."  
"Are you on your period or something?"  
"You guys are all retards. A girl can't be pissed at something without getting asked that?"  
"Okay okay. Chill. Do you want to play some second life for a break?"  
I hesitated. "Um. I agreed to play with Peter today.." I knew William wouldn't be happy  
"Why would you play with. Him. Him of all people too." He asked coldly.  
I never understood why William and Peter hated each other's guts so badly. "William. He's -"  
"I know you're going to say he's not that bad but have you seen the way he looks at you?" William interrupted.  
I laughed. "Oh please. We're just friends."  
I heard sighing through my mobile phone. "Just don't complain to me later. And just for today I will deal with that. Jerk."  
"Hm okay.. See you on second life then."  
"Yea bye."

I hung up. Although I tried doing homework. Nothing seemed to get me on task so I decided to fulfill my promise and go on Second Life. _I hope I gain another level tonight_ I thought idly as I climbed onto my bed. Tonight would be a long night I thought as I attached the headset onto my head. I was never so wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry for not writing for ages. I kind of got addicted to this game ;o Haha anyways on with the story. I don't own the short story/ anecdote I used. It's from a book called Jatta by Jenny Hale. It's quite good in my opinion. Read it if you have time ^^ Okay I will stop my unnecessary chatter now. _

I woke up on the cold marble floor instead of the comfortable bed in Second Life. Groaning weakly I noted to myself to never get a marble floor back in reality. Opening up RyTalk (A communication device in Second Life) I dialed in Peter's number.

"Hello? Peter here."  
"Hi, Celaena here. I arrived."  
"Okay wait for a moment, I will be right there."  
"Um.. Peter..? Would you mind if William joined us on our hunt today?"

Silence followed for what seemed like eternity. I frowned and was about to speak again when Peter answered.

"I suppose why not.." His voice coated with an underlying note of hatred  
Ignoring it I answered brightly, "Sweet, see you here then," and hanged up on him.

Searching for something to do while waiting for Peter and William I flicked through the encyclopedia of mythical beings which were supposedly meant to be in this world. Then I thought back to the reality that seemed so much more unrealistic than this perfectly crafted universe. Every player when they entered this world got to design their own weapon. Whether it was a swords or sword breakers, axes, bows, pikes,spears or even hunting maces but they had only one choice. Dont get me wrong here either, none of these weapons have any special abilities but we can still gain abilities for them via killing the stronger Danger Beasts.

She of course chose hunting knives. Knives were practically useful for either defense and attack. And even if situations became out of hand, using those knives had became a second nature to her now. Celaena sighed and tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. When were they going to arrive..

A knock at the door caused her to rise from where she was seated. "Finally.. How slow are you Peter."  
"Slow but still faster than you." He replied tauntingly. She swung a blow at him only to achieve more snickering as he dodged it.  
"You're hopeless." Celaena growled before plunking herself down on a seat.  
"Why dont we play nine phrases? We always played that when we were younger..."  
"No. That's just childish." Peter gave her a unjustifiable stare.. "Well.. Fine.. You start."  
"Okay, let's choose some dark words." He said grinningly.  
"Um.. Posionous black spider, heel, dying breath, envy, crocodile teeth wait how many words was that? Ahh five.. Err how about ugly grub, traps and torn entrails too?"  
"That's just hideous.. And by the way that was eight words. It still seems like you cant count."  
"You're hilarious." Peter said grinningly, "I was just testing you, you know that. Okay the ninth word will be. Butterfly"

Celaena nodded before closing her eyes. Threading together all the books and tales she read in the past years, she weaved together all the scraps of daydream and fables till the phrases and stories merged into one. Then she began story telling.

_There was once this wicked witch whose magical potion made her beautiful to all men. Night long she stirred warty toads,crocodile teeth and newt eyeballs into her bubbling cauldron; in her sea cave and above the stormy waves she drank the potion._

_In all the lands, there remained one women who's beauty outshone hers, the fair and young queen. The envious witch crept into the palace and casted a powerful spell which shrank the queen into an ugly grub. But before the witch could crush her beneath her heel, the grub had morphed into a beautiful blue butterfly. _

_Oh how the king and his children despaired over the disappearance of their beloved queen/mother. They were heartbroken and thought she had deserted them.. But the king and his children never realised that the butterfly which flitted into their daily lives was their queen. She watched over them the best she could. As years passed by, they gradually took care of that blue butterfly which never left them. She never left when they ate, slept or even played. _

_As the years past, the witch's dark magic had also grown more powerful and one day she transformed herself to look exactly like how the queen had. How the king had rejoiced but his children had seen into her black heart which could not contain her evil. They pleaded for their father to reject her but this only left the king confused and torn. The witch though had grown furious at the young children. One day, she set a trap; she hid herself in the children's sweet bowl in the disguise of a poisonous black spider. _

_That blue butterfly had fluttered frantically to distract and warn the children but how could they understand? Just as the children reached for the bowl, the real queen attacked the witch and was bitten instead. Her agony was as if her entrails were torn from her. _

_The poor queen.. One last time she appeared before her children. And with her dying breath she promised to watch over them and to be forever in their hearts. _

Peter grunted softly... ''Well.. That was a clever tale.. I've got to admit that you've always been better than me in English."  
Celaena yawned softly. Her RyTalk beeped, reaching for it she opened the notifications to see a stream of messages.

"000"

Eyes widened. "000?" That was only meant to stand for emergencies..


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay firstly, I need to thank FanFicFoy for writing that review and giving constructive feedback. My writing is far from perfect and I know that very well myself haha. If you're reading this I wish to say that the "9 Phrases" is going to be part of the story line eventually and I will try to fix up the mistakes after I finish this story. I think I will continue with third person as it seems more descriptive. Thank you again and let me start Chapter 3 now (:_

Darkness drawn before Celaena's eyes as she stared blankly at her Rytalk. "What for the sake..." she muttered softly before looking Peter in the eye. Celaena thought to herself in her mind, _000 was never used as a joke._ Celaena began to speak, "I know William and you are not on the best terms so I will not force you to come along with me. You can hang about and wait if you wish but I'm going to search for William. I'm worried that something may have occurred… And if I just wait here, I would never forgive myself if something really happened… So, come if you want." Celaena spoke briskly before heading towards the door and rushing out.

Headstrong as always, thought Peter as he followed after her steps. That girl will end up in so much trouble one day. Rushing out of the door, Peter bumped into Emily. "Em…? What are you doing here…"

Emily ignored him and rushed into Celaena's house. Footsteps could be heard downstairs before Emily shouted down, "Where for the love of God is she? Please don't tell me Celaena left this shelter.."

"Shelter…?" Peter asked, "You mean that something is out there?"

Emily looked at him gently and then replied sadly, "So you haven't heard of what happening right now. We are stuck here. And there's new Danger Beasts ravaging just outside this town. Stronger and scarier than anyone has seen in the history of Second Life. Many have died already and by that, I mean died in real life too. We can't get out and every single person who enters is stuck here until…." She trailed off looking lost.

"Until we complete a factor or quest right?" Peter finished the sentence for her.

Emily glanced behind him, "Supposedly but no one has received a single notice… I will explain everything once we find Celaena, I fear that she left the town by herself without even knowing what is occurring currently." She smiled dryly, "And this is what we call death at every corner. And was that quote in Hunger Games, "May the odds be in you favour?" Well… She really needs to survive against all odds. "Emily spoke quickly before briskly walking out the door. _Her sense of humour is special…_ Peter reflected as he followed.

As Emily and Peter rushed hastily to find Celaena, the conditions around them has already forced them to stop in horror for several times. A windstorm of gunfire skirls and sizzles through the ash filled skies. Second Life had never looked so grim. The once green grass was now stained with blood and even the multitudinous seas could not wash the incarnadine colour away. Lush green and happy environments now was only this effluvium of death. Cold and apocalyptical.

_Celaena, please be safe…_

-to die or not to dai-

"Argh, where the hell is William." Celaena thought frantically. _In his texts he said near the glass fountain but he's no where to be seen.. I hope he's fine.. _Footsteps could be heard from behind her. One hand on her knives, she swung around to only face a very stunned looking William. "WHERE WERE YOU? YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?" Celaena screamed at him. Then she sensed something, he wasn't William. Although they looked alike but no way the calm and composed William she knew would have that stunned expression on his face.

"Who are you..." Celaena hissed hands on the knives. "One wrong step and you will say good bye to your left hand."

"Feisty little girl aye. Ahhh since you're not going to keep your memory much longer, I will be so polite to answer your question. I'm nobody but you lot tend to call me the new Danger Beast. Ohh dont look so surprised, Ohms have a high level of intelligence and can almost identically replicate the people you know in your lives. Your friend Wilfred? Wilson? He-"

"It's William, watch what you say before i cut your tongue out." Celaena interrupted.

"Haha you dont learn. Not that you need to. That guy is nothing but an outer shell now. All his memories are gone. Just to make you feel better, his memories were quite delicious, just like yours will be" The creature sneered wickedly.

"To bad for him then. And you. He was weak and got eaten. That's the policy in this world." Celaena flinched inwardly as she said those words. She couldnt show any weakness to this Ohm. ''I guess I will sharpen my knives with your bones." Without another word Celaena leapt at him. Her eyes wild with hatred. Her agility would make her seem to vanish into air by untrained human eyes but Danger Beasts at this level were completely different. She looked more like a wraith than a human. Then she appeared, through the smoke long dark hair with blades that seemed to be made of quicksilver.

The Ohm rushed at her baring his teeth. Swiping at her head with jagged and dirty claws, Celaena stepped aside with a maddening ease. The Ohm grunted and snarled before he lunged again, but faster than he could follow, she had already slashed his legs which caused him to fall to the ground. Hitting the bloodstained glass of the fountain, agony tore through him. Celaena has stopped a few steps away looking down at the Danger Beast. Big talk indeed. For all he has said, she nearly thought he would be a worthy challenger. The parents didnt raise her like that for nothing.

Drawing a long dagger Celaena stabbed his legs to make sure he couldnt run away. Why did he have to look like William right now, if he didnt, she would be able to make him suffer more.. Purple blood were spilling from his wounds. "What are you." Celaena asked, her voice silhouetting the sharp edges of her daggers.

"I'm an Ohm.." he gasped out almost gagging on his tangible fear. _He had said that they would be invincible.. Stronger as they killed more players.. Why was this girl killing him. Haughty bitch. _

She turned the dagger and pressed it against his neck. "Let me rephrase my question. Who created you."

"N-n-no one. I dont know what you are talking about."

Without another intake of breath she drew another dagger and buried it into his thigh. "Who created you." She asked in a calm voice. So calm. So cold.

"I dont know what you are talking about! Let me go already!"

After another heartbeat, she drew the daggers out of his thighs. The ground was now a colour of purple and crimson. "Thank you."

She gave him a smile which devoid any warmth. Drawing out another dagger and placed it near his hand. _I'm sorry William. I have to do this.._

"Pick a finger." He trembled and gazed at her with tears brimming in his eyes.

"P-please."

"Pinky it is then."

"N-no. I... I'll tell you everything!" Celaena brought the dagger closer to his pinky. "DON"T. I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING"


End file.
